Florida Alert!

Carrying Firearms During a Mandatory Evacuation

SB-290, Firearms/Emergency Evacuation by Senator Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Community Affairs Committee on Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at 1:00 PM.

SB-290 is a bill to protect citizens from being disarmed and charged with a crime for carrying a weapon or firearm during a mandatory evacuation ordered by the Governor or local government during a declared state of emergency.

WHY DO WE NEED SB-290?

When you're ordered under a mandatory evacuation to take your family, pets and important documents and leave your home and other belongings behind, you should not be deprived of the ability to protect yourself and your family. You should not be denied the right to take your firearms with you rather than leave them behind for looters. This bill is especially important for law-abiding people in a state that is prone to evacuations due to hurricanes. This bill is about your safety and the safety of your family. Read the bill here: SB-290 Emergency Evacuation

Please EMAIL Committee members IMMEDIATELY and ask them to SUPPORT SB-290

IN THE SUBJECT LINE PUT: SUPPORT SB-290 on the Community Affairs Agenda Wednesday

(To send your message to all just Block and Copy All email addresses into the "Send To" box)

Help SCI Protect Hunters

WildEarth Guardians, an animal rights group, has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice challenging the DOJ’s policy against seeking criminal prosecution of individuals who accidentally kill or harm a member of a federally protected species when hunting. SCI hopes to intervene in the case to help the government defend this policy, which helps hunters avoid potential criminal liability under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). To do so, SCI will need statements from members who can help us demonstrate to the court how the outcome of the lawsuit might impact SCI and its members. If you are an SCI member who would be willing to provide a sworn statement that SCI can submit to the court, and you fall into one or both of the following two categories, please contact Anna Seidman, Director of Litigation, at aseidman@safariclub.org.

1. Do you hunt one wildlife species in an area occupied by another ESA-protected species of similar appearance, which causes you to be at risk of accidentally shooting the federally protected species? Examples include hunting coyotes in New Mexico or Arizona in an area occupied by federally protected Mexican wolves, or hunting black bears in an area occupied by federally protected grizzly bears.

2. Have you ever come close to mistakenly shooting a federally protected species when out hunting for another non-federally protected species?

(Please note that your participation in this effort will not establish an attorney/client relationship with SCI attorneys. Therefore, we cannot promise to keep confidential any information provided to us in this matter. For that reason, please share only information that you would be willing to make public.)

Thank you for your willingness to help SCI defend the rights and opportunities of hunters.